OBITUARY

Pop artist Robert Indiana dies. He created Bucks' MECCA floor, LOVE image.

Journal Sentinel staff and Associated Press

Pop artist Robert Indiana, who created the eye-popping basketball floor for Milwaukee's MECCA, has died at 89.

Indiana, best known for his 1960s LOVE series, died Saturday from respiratory failure at his home in Vinalhaven, Maine, said his attorney, James Brannan.

The artist’s LOVE sculpture, in which the “L” and a leaning “O” sit atop the “V” and the “E,” is instantly recognizable worldwide. But Indiana also created other well-known works, including a HOPE design, similar to LOVE, in honor of former President Barack Obama, and the MECCA surface, dubbed the "floor that made Milwaukee famous."

Robert Indiana, artist, poses with the Mecca floor he designed, as seen in a Journal Sentinel file photo from October 1977.

Marcus Corp. Chairman Steve Marcus tapped Indiana to create the floor. The decision to commission the Pop artist from New York for the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center and Arena, or MECCA, floor was controversial at the time, in part due to the selection of a nonlocal artist.

When Indiana's basketball floor was unveiled in 1977, though, with a giant M flanking each side of the midcourt line and a candy-apple-red bull's-eye at center court, players, coaches and fans generally adored it.

The floor was used until the Milwaukee Bucks moved to the Bradley Center in 1988.

The Bucks re-created the floor for their "Return to the MECCA" game in October last year.

Robert Indiana's "LOVE" sculpture will be installed in front of Northwestern Mutual's glassy tower as part of this year's installation of Sculpture Milwaukee. It is seen here on the streets of New York.

Just this week, one of Indiana's LOVE sculptures is to be installed in front of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s glassy tower downtown. The 8-foot work is part of this year's Sculpture Milwaukee, an annual outdoor public art exhibition.

Friends had recently expressed concern for Indiana's well-being because the reclusive artist had not been heard from for some time. A lawsuit filed in New York City the day before his death suggested he was purposefully isolated by his caretakers.

Brannan declined to comment on the situation.

In his later years, Indiana was known for living an increasingly reclusive life 15 miles off the mainland of Maine on Vinalhaven, where he moved in 1978.

As the story goes, Indiana, an Indiana native, settled in Maine after getting fed up with the art scene in New York.

But he told The Associated Press in 2009 that he moved to his house — which a benefactor bought for him — when he needed a place to go after his lease ran out on his five-story studio and gallery in the Bowery section of New York City.

His desire for solitude was legendary.

He once stood up President Obama at the White House. Another time he made a crew from NBC’s “Today” show wait three days on the island before he would let them interview him. In 2014, he disappointed dozens of fans by failing to make an appearance outside his home for an event dubbed International HOPE Day, which was inspired by his creativity. Events were held in several locations around the world.

The original Indiana MECCA floor is owned by Ben Koller and is in storage in the Milwaukee area.

The original floor was reassembled and displayed at the arena in 2013 when Koller sought a buyer for the work.